Books

Most of the books I have are travel related, guidebooks or just nonfiction relating to another country. I have been getting into the single girl fiction fad that started with Bridget Jones (if you liked that one, read the sequel, so you'll be prepared when the movie comes out. If you didn't like it, you're probably a man.) The best thing I've read in that genre is 'Good in Bed' by Jennifer Weiner. I bought a copy for myself and for a friend at Christmas time. I read it very quickly and am thinking about reading it again. She's got a new book out but I don't have it yet. A friend of mine bought me the first 3 'Tales of the city' books for my birthday this summer. I had started to watch the tapes of the miniseries and didn't finish them. I just wasn't that interested. But, the books were great and I read each of them in about a week.
I have a bunch of Danielle Steel books, too. Before you groan - she has some great stories. My favorites are Wanderlust, The Ring and Full Circle. I think I like those so much because they seem to break out of her normal formula (a rich man or woman is married/committed at the beginning of the book, suffers a break up and then finds love again, sigh). I don't like it when she seemly writes only what she knows. She seems more creative when she tackles a subject she isn't as familiar with, and when she sets the story in a previous era, like with Crossings, the one about the Titanic. I realize that none of my 3 favorites are set in the modern day, either (wanderlust - World War 2, The Ring - 19th Century?, Full Circle - the 60s). They still have the sappy romance, but there are more themes than just that. I also liked Mixed Blessings, and that might be the first time I cried while reading a book.
An interesting side note is that there's a song titled 'Danielle Steel' by a band called The Lucksmiths. I'll post the lyrics if I can find them. He's talking about his girl and that she's got 'the heart of Danielle Steel'. Okay, no more music talk, back to books. I am currently trying to read '1984' and 'The Culture of Fear'. I have tried to get thru 1984 before and I find it easier every time, but I still haven't finished it. The Culture of Fear is by Barry Glassner, you might have seen him in 'Bowling for Columbine'. While it has quite a liberal slant, it's an enjoyable read so far. The most interesting thing that he's saying is that so many of our societal ills stem from poverty. While that doesn't surprise me, it makes real improvement seem even more of a pipe dream, since poverty is so good at being cyclical. But now I digress into politics. That'll be another series of posts.
While I'm talking about books, I should probably throw in a magazine or two. I like 'Games' and I have a subscription to 'National Geographic Traveller'. I buy the occasional computer magazine or chic rag (Glamour, Allure, Marie Claire). Tv Guide and Entertainment Weekly sometimes make it into my cart at the grocery store. I almost always buy the Fall Preview editions of those two (I know, I sound like the Elaine Mannequin guy from Seinfeld) because I like to see good shows from the beginning. And now I digress into TV. I can't believe how long this post has gotten. Sadly, the others will probably be longer.